Hoping for the best

Frozen Frames

Frozen, the black and white film — the first one in the last 40 years of Indian cinema — has won more than 18 awards on the film festival circuits. It is based on the lives of a father-daughter-son trio played by Danny Denzongpa, debutants Gauri and Angchuk respectively.

For Gauri, her tryst with glamour began after starring in the famous Kunal Ganjawala video, Channave Ghar aaja ve. The producer and director of the same video, Shivaji Chandrabhushan, then called upon Gauri to act in his film.

“I had never thought of acting. I have no acting background whatsoever, but as soon as I was offered the film, I began to prepare myself for serious acting.” So Gauri spent the next year preparing for what would be pitched as an internationally acclaimed film at foreign film festivals. She says, “I watched a lot of world cinema, and read up on the craft of film-making.”

She then recalls how her debut filmFrozen happened. “Director Shivaji was about to shoot the brother and sister centred thriller in Goa, but he went to Ladakh on a trip, and changed his mind. I play the character of a 16-year-old girl and the film portrays her relationship with her father and brother.” Speaking about her character she says, “Lasya is a rebellious, bubbly, playful and innocent girl, whose only world is her dad and her brother. She hates to go to school.”

The character of her father in the film has been played by veteran actor Danny Denzongpa. Recalling her experience of working with him, Gauri says, “Danny is an institution in himself. Working with him was like going to acting school. As a person he is very charming and handsome. This film is all about subtle acting, with no loud expression.”

Talking about shooting in extreme conditions in Ladakh, Gauri says, “It was very tough, but the director had done his homework perfectly. We went there five days before the shooting schedule to acclimatise; also because it was winter, the sunlight would be there only for four to five hours, which would leave us hard-pressed for time. A lot of us suffered from mountain sickness at high attitudes. But I loved every moment of it. I love travelling and adventure sports, and this worked out perfectly for me.”

The film was shot more than two years ago, and has released on May 8. “I am excited and anxious about the response. This being my debut, it’s very close to my heart,’’ she says enthusiastically.

But why the two year delay in releasing and she answers, “It was difficult to find distributors for a black and white film. And that too for a film which has no song and dance, it’s only after we did well in the film festivals, that we were taken notice of.”
Gauri is very positive about her future acting career. “My next release is an art film called Kharghosh, based on the novel by Priyamvad.’’

 So will her acting be confined only to art films? “I personally don't like to bifurcate films into art and commercial; only good films or bad films, and now I am focusing on my career and am open to all language, genre. I don't mind doing an item number either, I love dancing,” she says, signing off.